Team of The Week / Best Statistical Win

What a beat down to start the season off for a loaded Rice squad. It’s as bizarre to type that as it is to see the Owls beating a Division 1 team by 24 on the road. The win was so impressive it garnered Team of The Week as well as Best Statistical Win.

I’ve mentioned plenty of times in the Conference USA previews that Egor Koulechov is the real deal. The Russian Reaper went 4-of-7 from behind the arc en route to a 23 point performance.

After missing all of last season, junior guard Marcus Jackson jumped right in the mix dishing out 8 assists and dropping 19 points in 26 minutes.

Rice is deep, talented, and has a schedule to start that should yield a 7-0 start when they take their show on the road to Texas Tech December 3.

Honorable Mention

The Roadrunners put together the most positive 0-2 start to the season that I can remember.

In the image below the left side shows the main contributors in their 69-66 loss at Fresno St. on Friday. On the right are the main contributors in their Conference USA tournament loss to FAU last March.

So, yes, UTSA lost to Fresno and Oregon St. to start the season. That’s a bummer. However, Steve Henson was able to put a nearly completely new team on the court and be competitive against two teams that made the NCAA tournament last season.

I’d imagine the Roadrunner faithful are encouraged after seeing their team fight the way they did.